I have been entering footnotes for David’s book for the past several days. I hope I never have to do this again! It is a most impossible task. Enough to drive anyone crazy.

Actually, these are endnotes (note: it’s one word, not two), not footnotes. I have learned the difference, adding to my writing knowledge. Footnotes are found at the bottom of a page. Endnotes are found in the back of the book. Most of these endnotes contain information that was obtained through the internet. Therefore, I have to reference these, which is nothing less than a nightmare.

I knew I needed to check each internet reference to make sure the endnotes were accurate. Many were not, even though my husband labored to copy them down carefully. Just leave out a period or put a capital letter instead of a small one and you never find the site. His book contains about two hundred endnotes, each one to be researched and carefully copied onto the page. Every of the thirty-five chapters of his book has an average of six endnotes. This can cause a sane woman to tear her hair out!

After entering the endnotes for a chapter, I would be in such a state that only madly devouring some chocolate could cure me!

I have a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style next to the computer. I learned that for a citation from a book, the endnote is written one way. For a citation from a newspaper, it’s another way. This gets italicized. That is in quotes. But not always. A citation from a website is written still another way. Definitely a cause for desperately seeking chocolate.

I learned that Op-Ed, means it’s an article from the editorial page of a newspaper.Of course I had to look up how to write Op-Ed. Naturally I wrote it the wrong way and had to scroll back through the text changing all the op. ed.s  and op-ed’s to Op-Ed. Then there’s the Ed Page. To Capitalize or Not to Capitalize, That is the Question. I’m still researching that one. No luck so far. However, whatever I put down, you can bet the editor will tell me I have to write it a different way.

Even though I have a Masters Degree in Counseling, even though I graduated in the year 2000, even though I wrote gazillions of papers in graduate school, almost all of them with footnotes, I still had to research how to write an endnote. Footnotes or endnotes for a book differ from those for a research paper.

The world of footnotes and endnotes is one I do not ever wish to enter again! Now where did I put that chocolate bar?

Everyone has a book inside waiting to be released. Authors are people who are brave enough to put their words on paper. Writing a book isn’t easy but it’s not impossible, either. An easy way to begin is to write about a subject you know. Write about yourself! Tell about the funny, sad, amazing, or touching incidents in your life. Just write. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar or how it will sound to others. Just do it. Then you can go back and correct the errors. After that, once a week or more often, add another page or two. Slowly build your memoir. The more you write, the easier it gets.

Now think of a title for your memoir. It could be as simple as “My Memoir.” At some point you will realize it’s becoming easier to think of what to write. You could start with the day you were born, or just write about an incident in your life and later organize the incidents into chapters. You can create categories such as Early Childhood, High School Days, Marriage, and so on. Find a few pictures to include, like the one when you were four years old. Learn how to download them into the memoir. The more pictures, the better, but be sure to include captions for them.

When you are finished, reread what you wrote looking for errors. Then add more pictures with captions, and titles for chapters. You did group your stories into chapters, didn’t you?

Now design a cover and go to Kinkos, print and bind your book, and make several copies. The book will be an excellent gift for a family member or friend. Above all, have fun with this project.

My goal is to finish my third book this year. It is a biography of an entrepreneur who has had a number of businesses, all successful, and has just started a new venture at age 84! This guy has had some incredible adventures. I have been interviewing him for several months, taping his stories and am busy with the tedious work of transcribing them, phrase by phrase. I know there must be an easier way to do this, but it works for me. I can’t wait for you to read some of his stories!

I have several books lined up which I need to finish…”miles to go before I sleep”… therefore, I want to remain healthy enough, and have plenty of time to finish my work. I wish I had started sooner, but I didn’t know I had so many books in my head.

Well, it’s January, a new year, like a fresh clean page on which to write. This year I decided I didn’t want to make any resolutions…except one: to create a better lifestyle. This means looking for ways to eat better, incentives to exercise more, thus living healthier.

In order to exercise more, I enrolled in a Zumba class. If I can roll out of bed early enough to be at the 7:45 am class, It should be a fun experience. Hopefully, the Charley Horse I will experience after the first class won’t be too bad. I also am taking Tai Chi and learning how to coordinate the arm and leg movements, a Chinese ballet somewhat akin to patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time.

It should be an interesting year. What do you hope your year will be like?

I saw an interview of Chelsea Clinton last night on a new NBC program, “Rock Center.” She told how she has successfully avoided the limelight for so long but she is now back in the public eye. Chelsea’s grandmother passed away a few months ago, but she gave Chelsea one important lesson not long before she passed away. She said, “It’s not what has happened to you, but what you do with what has happened to you.” Her grandmother told her that she is Chelsea Clinton and it is time she used that name to help others. So now Chelsea has shed her desire for privacy and is bringing inspirational stories to the television program as a new reporter on Rock Center.

No matter what has happened to you, what hand you’re dealt, do something positive with it. Help someone else in that position. Be supportive. Be there for her or him. You’ve gone through it. You came out of it OK. Let them know, they can, too.

It is time to give back and Pay It Forward. Think of a way, this time of year, to give something to others: your time, a small gift, an offer to help, a letter by snail mail telling someone how much you love-appreciate-miss them-whatever. This is the season of giving. Give from your heart and you will benefit just as much as the other person.

Several years ago I received a unique birthday present from my sister-in-law. It was a metal paperweight, 5″ long, an inch and a half wide, and a half inch deep. On it was written, “what would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”

This was a powerful question. What would I do? I reflected a long time on this question. We did I worry so much about failure? I had so many what ifs’.

What if I fall flat on my face when I have to speak in front of the group?
What if I frame one of my paintings, place it in the exhibit and nobody buys it?
What if I write a book and nobody wants to read it?
What if…? What if…?

What if’s keep us from accomplishing more in our life.

So what if no one buys my painting. I did it! I created a painting! I entered an exhibit! And, who knows? Someone might just buy it!

And, if no one buys my book, at least I wrote one! I have told so many people, “You ought to write a book.” They always say they couldn’t do that, feeling it was too difficult a task to contemplate.

After contemplating the question, I decided to write the book. I had thought about it for a while, I had used the theme of the book, “Why do women ignore the warning signs that say…this guy’s not for you,” for the theme of my thesis in grad school. I began to expand on this idea. Pretty soon the book began to take shape. Slowly, I added stories from women I interviewed to the book. I was on a roll. Well,  I finished the book. I revised it so many times to improve it. I published it. I completed a difficult project! I accomplished something special.

The paperweight was always on my desk. My inspiration. Every once in a while I would look at it and realize the what if’s had held me back so many times. But, not this time!

The paperweight is in front of me as I write this. I plan to enter one of my paintings at an art show in November. I am now busy writing my third book. Thank you for that paperweight, Leah. I don’t have the fear of failure any more.